ASTEROIDS

1
INTRODUCTION

 Mostly rocky and metallic in nature

 Metals may include Iron, Nickle, Gold, Platinum, Clay, Silicate etc.
 In size they can range from the size of a pebble to bodies as large as dwarf planets

2
HOW THEY WERE FORMED?

Theory No:1
 In the early chaotic solar system, large planetismals
collided with one another and rocky chunks broke
off, forming asteroids
Theory No:
2
 In the early solar system, some debris never came
together to form planets and dwarf planets. They
remained out of the reach of gravity and are free
floating since in the form rocky asteroids

3
EXAMPLES

 Asteroids belt
 Trojans
 Near earth objects

4
ASTEROID BELT

 This belt is between Mars and Jupiter

 It carries an estimated 1.9 million asteroids

5
TROJANS

 Any asteroid sharing its orbit with a larger planet is

called a Trojan.

6
NEAR EARTH OBJECTS!

 Any celestial body whose closet approach to sun

(perihelion) is less than 1.3 AU (Amore, Appollos,
Florence etc.)
 When these near Earth object cross Earth’s orbit
during their revolutionary course, they are called
Earth Crossers
 It is called a Potentially Hazardous Object (PHO),
when its size is bigger than 140 meters and is at a
distance of less than 0.05 AU

7
IMPORTANCE OF ASTEROIDS!

 Pieces of asteroids breakdown and can be seen as a meteor shower (phenomenon called shooting star)
 Sometimes, they collide with Earth wrecking a havoc

Examples:
 Arizona USA Meteor Crater
 South Africa’s Vredefort Crater
 Tunguska Incidence - The most scariest asteroid crash ever witnessed in Siberia 1908
 Chelyabinsk incidence in Ukraine 2013

8
THANK YOU!